"Nickels" Review: Rob Riggle Finds Dramatic Weight in a Familiar Story About Grief
Over the last decade, I’ve lost several family members and friends, so when a film like "Nickels" landed in my inbox for review consideration, I was open to what it had to say about grief and loss. Inspired by a true story, Nickels comes from director Spencer King and writer Tim Tuchrello.
Rob Riggle stars as Tom Monroe, a successful entrepreneur and devoted family man who has never fully recovered from the death of his older brother during his teenage years. The loss affected him so deeply that he eventually became estranged from his sister, Deborah (Rebecca Gayheart).
Thirty years later, Tom’s emotional wounds reopen after his neighbor’s son, Mitch Diller (Aaron Holliday), survives a devastating motorcycle accident. As Tom spends more time with Mitch, he begins to believe there may be a deeper spiritual connection between the young man and the brother he lost.
That belief begins affecting Tom’s relationships with his wife, Liz (Elizabeth Tulloch), his daughter, Harper (Odessa A’zion), and Mitch’s parents, Bill (Tom Arnold) and Lorraine (Vinessa Shaw).
Although Nickels deals heavily with faith and the possibility of something beyond this life, it doesn’t follow the familiar blueprint associated with filmmakers like the Kendrick Brothers or studios such as Angel Studios. Tom never visits a priest or seeks out a reincarnation specialist. Instead, King keeps the supernatural possibilities relatively restrained and allows Tom’s grief to drive the story.
That approach also gives Riggle an opportunity to step away from his comedy background. The easy choice would have been to fill Tom with dad jokes and use humor to cover his pain. Instead, Riggle plays him as an emotionally wounded everyman. Much like his work in 12 Strong, he shows he can bring genuine dramatic weight when given the opportunity.
Riggle also shares convincing chemistry with Tulloch, giving their marriage a lived-in quality the film needs. His scenes with Holliday are equally effective, particularly as Tom begins projecting decades of unresolved grief onto their growing friendship. Unfortunately, the supporting characters never receive the same level of development.
A’zion gives a capable performance, but I never completely bought Harper as a high school student, which occasionally pulled me out of the family dynamic. More importantly, Tuchrello’s screenplay leaves several relationships underdeveloped. Tom’s estrangement from Deborah, the concerns surrounding his relationship with Mitch, and the emotional fallout within both families all offer opportunities for deeper exploration that the film only partially uses.
King deserves credit for not turning Nickels into an overly sentimental sermon or supernatural mystery. The film is far more interested in what grief does to the living than in providing a definitive answer about what happens after death.
That restraint works, but it also highlights the screenplay’s biggest weakness. Nickels introduces several compelling ideas about faith, guilt, reconciliation, and second chances without digging deeply enough into any of them. As a result, some of the emotional moments land while others feel like they needed another draft to reach their full potential.
Nevertheless, Nickels understands something universal about grief: the people we lose have a way of remaining part of who we become. Riggle gives the material more emotional weight than viewers may expect, and King handles the film’s spiritual themes with welcome restraint.
The message lands, even when the storytelling around it doesn’t fully connect.
Final Grade: C
"NICKELS" Opens
In Select Theaters and on Digital October 2, 2026
